Adjustable pipe template



Dec', 23,1924.-

. 1,520,143 A. B. SANDELL ADJUSTABLE PIPE TEMPLATE "original Filed Sept. 13, 1920 ing through apertures in the bolts.

Patented Dec. 23, 1924.

` ANTON B. SANDELIJ, or enOTON, CONNECTICUT,` Ass'IefNoB. To THE sANDnIiusP'ECIAL- TIES Co., oF `GIR-OTON7 CONNECTICUT, A 'CORPORATION or CONNECTICUT.

ADJUSTABLE lPIPE- TEMPLATE.

AApplication -fl'e'd September 13,'-1920, vSerial Ncf409989. RenewedJune `5, 1924.

all whom 'it may concer/n.: l

Be it known that l, yANTON B. Si-iNnnLu, a lcitizen of the United States of America,

residing at Groton, New London County,

Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Adjustable Pipe Template, of which thc following is a specification.

My invention-relates to the art of pipe bending, and more particularly to a` template for determining accurately curves to which a pipe is to be bent.

It often happens in ship practice andV elsewhere that two runs of pipe which are out of alignment with eachother have to be connected by `a single bent pipe. 1t is at present a difficult and costly task to determine the proper curves on which to bend the pipe. Heretofore it has been common practice to make a template of Wood to determine the curves and such a template can be used for only'vthe singlecurves for which it is constructed. This practice is eX- pensive.

It is an object Of--myinventionv therefore to provide anadjustable template which may beu cheaply made and from which 'the proper `curves to be-given a pipe section may be accurately determined.

It is a further object to provide means for insuring a proper alignment of bolt holes in the flanges of the pipes to be Afitted together.

@ther objects and advantages will appear as the specification proceeds.

Myinvention in its preferred form coni-v prises a. series ofl sections adjustably securedl together as by means of ball and socket slotted joints.A Each section comprises a plurality of barsrigidly secured together and the ball and socket joints are preferably formed in the ends of the bars and bolts are passed through the ends of the bars for ad- Ijustably securing the sectionsA together. 1n

order to give additional stiffness or rigidity to the template, one or more stay rods are secured to the sections as by means of pass- Then the nuts on the bolts are screwed up, the

sections and'stay rods form a very rigid template.

In the drawings which show merely a preferred form of my invention:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary view of a template, parts being shown in section, and parts broken away,

and 3 preferably rigidly secured together asby means of a band or hoop t, which may be welded to or otherwise secured to the bars of each section. A

Each bar is pro-vided on one end with a ball or rounded end lsuch as 5, and the inner part of the ball is preferably counter bored as at 6 to provide space for a bolt to move angularly with relation tothe bar. The lend of cach vbar remote `from the-lball end is preferably' liollowcdr out in the form of a socket 7 for co-operation with the mi on the bar of the adjacent section. Each of the socket ends may be slotted as at 7 to accommodate a bolt such as 8 passing through both the ball and the socket for adjustably securing the vends of the` bars together. Washers such as Qmay fitthe outside ofthe sockets andL provide bearings for the wing nuts 10 screwed on the ybolts S.

'The inner ends of the bolts are preferably tions of they template are preferably provided with sections fory co-operation with the end sections of pipes. In the form shown, the section 12 is provided with a flange 13. The section isv slotted as at 141,

and the bolts 8 heretofore described pass through the bars and through the slots in the section 12. This slotted connection permitsthe flange and section to be adjusted circumferentially relative to the template sections. AThe flange 13 may b e 'provided with "one or more series of, apertures 15-1617 which arespaced to conform to the spacing usually found upon pipe flanges of corresponding sizes.

When the nuts on the bolts 10a're screwed up, a rigid template is-formed,'.but to give additional rigidity thereto, I have shown rods 18 passing through apertures 19 in the spherical heads of the bolts 8. These apertures in the bolts are of larger diameter than the rods to permit slight angular movement between these parte, When the ms CTI are screwed up the rods i8 are firmly pressed against and are frictionally held by the washers ll.

In operation when it is desired to determine the proper length and curvature of a pipe to connect the two end sections of two runs of pipe, my template is used as f'ollowsz One oit' the end flanges 13 (if flanged pipes are used) is bolted to the corresponding flange on the end of the run of pipe. A sufficient number of sections are provided to reach to the other pipe to be connected. rlhe second flange 13 may then be bolted to the last mentioned pipe. rIhc proper sweep v or curve may then be given the template,

this being permitted by the adjustable connections between the various sections.

When the proper curve is determined, the

nuts l0 are screwed up and all of the sec-- tions will then be rigidly secured together and the rods 1S will serve to give additional rigidity to the template. The end flanges 13 are next disengaged from the pipe fianges and the rigid template may then be taken into the shop to set up the targets therefrom. In Fig. 3 is shown in a somewhat diagrammatic manner two targets engaging the template. The template may be placed upon the floor or work-bench and one target 20 moved up to and engaged with the end section of the template. Another target 2l may then be moved up to and engaged with the other end sections after which both targets are fixed. The contour of the template may next be scribed on the surface of the bench. The template is then disengaged from the targets and the pipe after being bent should lit between the fixed targets and the curvature of the pipe should conform to the contour previously scribed on the bench. After a few trials or fittings, the pipe may be bent to the exact curve laid out. between the targets, and by fairing up the holes in the flanges of the bent pipe and the targets, a perfect fit between the bent pipe and the two runs of pipe already in place will be assured.

By means of the template shown, it will be obvious that compound curves, that is curves in more than on plane may be determined to meet the requirements of practice.

While I have shown a specific embodiment of my invention, I wish it to be understood that various modifications and changes may be made all coming within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An adjustable pipe template including a plurality of sections adjustably secured together to permit the template to be curved, a stay rod, and means for clamping said stay rod to some of said sections for holding the template rigid.

2. In an adjustable pipe template, a series of sections adjustably secured together, each section comprising a plurality of bars, a band for securing the bars of each section together, and means on one of the end sections Yfor engagement with a pipe.

3. In an adjustable pipe template, a series of sections, each comprising a plurality of bars secured together', the bars of the adj acent sections having ball and socket connections with each other, bolts passing through said connections, and nuts on said bolts for securing the vsections together.

In an adjustable pipe template, a plurality of bars having ball and socket engagement with each other, bolts passing through said bars at the connecting points, a stay rod passing through said bolts, and nuts on said bolts for securing the bars and stay rods together to form a rigid template.

5. In an adjustable pipe template, a plurality of sections, means whereby the sections are adjustably connected in series, means ou the two end sections for engaging a pipe, said connecting means including ball and socket joints, means for rendering said ball and socket joints rigid, said ball and socket connections permitting said template to be curved in two planes.

6. An adjustable pipe template including a plurality of sections, means whereby the sections are connected together in series, means on the two end sections ttor engaging a. pipe, the connecting means between some of the various sections being adapted for permitting such sections to be adjusted at various angles to each other in one plane, the connecting moans between others of said sections being adapted for permitting said last mentioned sections to be adjusted at various angles to each other and ina plane at an angle to the plane of the other adjusted sections, whereby the template as a whole may be substantially curved in two planes.

7. An adjustable'pipe template, comprising a plurality of sections, means whereby the sections are adjustably connected in scries, means on the two ends sections for engaging a pipe, said connecting` means including at least three pin and slot connections for permitting longitudinal extension of the template, and means for rendering said pin and slot connections rigid.

ANTON B. SANDELL. 

